And then, lo and behold... a friend from church is willing to lend a helping hand in designing the cards - we only need to pay for the printing and material costs. It was truly a blessing and a bargain for us. The design was good but at the final mock-up print, it didn't turn out quite like what I had in mind. And I felt it was not right for me to impose since it was a favour as a gesture of goodwill. So, we had to abandon plan and by that time, it was already the first week of July!
By now, I was really really in panic. We were only 3 months away from the wedding and the invites were not sorted out yet!! RSVP was supposed to be in the middle of September. At this point, I was really stressed out because I knew time was not on our side and we didn't want to make any rush decisions.
Went back to Storybo*k and thank God Enya managed to quote us the same price as the last time we enquired. Bear was still of the opinion that we should look out for at least one more vendor to do a comparison. I quickly emailed a few vendors and Acadia Card was prompt in replying. Made an appointment with Acadia Cards and the pricing were more or less the same as Storybo*k. So decided to go with Storybo*k because their terms and conditions are much more flexible and the invites were nicer (personal preference).
Plus I like Enya because she is honest, genuine, and sincere. She will design your invites at no extra cost when you order 300 pieces and above. Wedding invites are based on volume and is tiered-pricing.
Basically, you tell her your theme, colour, and concept that you want and she will incorporate it into the cards. Alternatively, you can choose some of the existing designs that are in the shop - once the designs are picked, it will be 'locked' until after your wedding date so no two clients will have the same design. Or another way is to pick the existing design and tweak it to your specifications. Either way, your cards will be different and distinct from the mass market. Best of all, she don't charge until you confirm the design. Meaning I can ask her to design my cards first, then only pay when I am satisfied with the outcome - 50% before printing, and the balance of 50% upon receipt of the invites.
We approached Enya on 7 July to brief her on our theme, and that time was not on our side so the invites need to be out asap! One week passed and no response. Two weeks passed and still no response. I was getting a nervous breakdown very anxious by now and kept calling her and even dropped by the shop. She always assures me that she will be able to adhere to our tight deadline.
Last Saturday, she called us to view the demo (finally!). Enya will usually come up with a few variations of the design for you to choose. All four (?!) of the church invites were so pretty, we had a hard time choosing. On the other hand, she had a lot of dinner designs (I think around 6 cards! 0_o") but none caught our eyes. We further discussed and brainstormed. Within an hour, she managed to come up with another idea - she asked us to return to the shop 3 days later. To speed things up; I gave her the exact wordings, maps, RSVP names, number of cards, and the picture to be inserted in (Angie ... we are taking one from yours!).
We are suppose to head there again today and we are VERY EXCITED to see the final outcome. I have confidence in Storybo*k and Enya. :) If the design is alright, we will pay the 50% deposit and take the cards back to our parents for approval first. Then, we can instruct Enya to start printing the invites. That will take another 3-4 days. Woots~!
After the invites are sorted out, we need to worry about finalising the guest list, send the invites out, RSVPs, and table arrangements. Taking it one at a time now. *sweat*
p.s: All pictures were taken with my BB. :)
Love;
The-Bride-to-be
